Lady Gaga is taking up art as a hobby. With her aptly titled album “Artpop” out in November, the ever-evolving diva is ditching her meat dress and taking cues from the worlds of pop art, opera and even the silver screen to give her wardrobe a whimsical refresh. Gaga’s always been as well-known for her ridiculous on- and offstage get-ups as for her catchy songs. Now she’s adding war paint, Boticelli-inspired seashells, sculpture and drag to her arsenal.
Over the summer, Gaga’s longtime stylist Nicola Formichetti quit his gig (he’s now Diesel’s first creative director.) His former assistant, Brandon Maxwell took over the reins, and has been steering the singer’s look toward high culture ever since.
To learn more about the possible inspirations behind the new get-ups, we spoke to two art experts for their take on Lady’s new look: Valerie Steele, curator and director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Angela Di Bello, director of the Agora Gallery in Chelsea.
BLACK BODYSUIT AND YELLOW WIG, MTV VMAs
Steele: “In a way, it’s her standard bodysuit, but instead of a corset she has this almost heart-shaped pubic hair decoration and this bust-shaped decoration. That’s typical of highlighting female body parts. What’s particularly interesting is the taking off the wig. Wig on, wig off. There’s a sense of ‘Victor Victoria’ and tons of things going way back to famous drag performances. That was always the essence of classic drag performances. At the end, the ultrafeminine performer would take off the wig and you’d realize it’s a man.”
SCULPTURAL DRESS, ITUNES MUSIC FESTIVAL
Di Bello: “I love this! Totally over-the-top, a robust depiction of an idea gone mad, a Pop Art Alice in Wonderland meets Clockwork Orange madness. This is a unique and original work of art, the undulating twists, turns and curlicues of the outer gear reveals a wicked sense of humor; Lady Gaga is depicted as a girly girl, flirty and cutesy yet outrageously confident, stylish and totally in her realm. The exaggeration of the outer gear is so deliciously Pop Art!”
SAD CLOWN, “APPLAUSE” MUSIC VIDEO
Steele: “You have the eye shadow in the blue, but it melts down and there’s a little bit of the look of a Pierrot-like performer, the black hat surrounded by the white. The effect is sort of sad-looking with the way the blue is there, going down the face. It [refers to] clowns and sad clowns and there’s a kind of mad-woman quality to it, also. Like some kind of deranged old lady who just put on her makeup and it’s all smudged and messy.”
Di Bello: “What a beautiful image, a feminine Pagliacci of sorts. Sad, wounded, emotive, full of human intensity and saturated in pathos. What is most compelling is that Lady Gaga is at war, this face depicts her strength and resolve as a Pop Art warrior. I recognize the battle as will many others and isn’t this what we want to communicate through art?”
SEASHELL BIKINI AND WAR PAINT, MTV VMAs
Steele: “To have this kind of bikini with the seashell is your classic Venus on the half shell. Making a reference to Botticelli and all those other images, but in a deliberately kitsch way.”
